The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has faced significant backlash in recent days following Pakistan's disappointing exit from the group stage of the 2025 Champions Trophy. This outcome has raised concerns as it marks the third consecutive ICC ODI tournament in which the team has failed to advance to the knockout stage, compounded by an unexpected first-round elimination in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The criticism has increasingly focused on the selectors for their poor team composition for the Champions Trophy. Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja expressed his astonishment upon discovering that one member of the five-person selection committee for the men's team had never participated in a first-class cricket match.

In response to a home Test defeat against England in early October of the previous year, the PCB restructured its selection committee, incorporating notable figures such as Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, and Azhar Ali, alongside the previous members Asad Shafiq and Hassan Cheema. It was during a discussion on Sports Central with Wasim Akram that Jadeja learned of this surprising detail.

"Are you telling me a Pakistan selector has not played First-Class cricket?" Jadeja exclaimed after Akram revealed that, in contrast, candidates for the BCCI's national selector position must have a minimum number of First-Class matches to their credit.

"I'm already ready," he quipped humorously.

For clarification, the individual in question is Cheema, who joined the committee as an analyst. He previously worked as a Strategy Manager for the Islamabad United PSL franchise for eight years before being hired by the PCB in 2023 and subsequently promoted to selector in October 2024.

'Why do you need a statistician?'

Akram criticized the PCB for appointing a statistician to the selection panel. Jadeja supported Akram's statement, asserting that statistics do not always provide a comprehensive understanding and that selectors should not rely solely on numerical data when making decisions about player selection.

When choosing players based solely on statistics, one is not truly selecting but rather dismissing options, as the decision is not grounded in statistical data. A selector must recognize potential in a player. Consider the examples of Akram and Waqar Younis; they may not have possessed the most impressive statistics at the outset of their careers, yet success is determined by the outcome of their journey. It is essential to evaluate the potential for development and what one can cultivate in a player.

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